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Iranos
All.jpg Introduction The blue skinned genasi before you has calloused hands that speak of years spent climbing and handling coarse rope, despite his relative youth. He wears a simple tunic and trous, with a rapier and dagger sheathed at his belt and walks with slightly rolling gait that further gives evidence that he has lived his recent life at sea. The skin of his face has darker blue lines running across it, whether natural or ink you cannot tell. "Iranos", he introduces himself simply, "the name of my family is of no consequence, forgotten and abandoned, as are they, for theirs is a life I choose not to follow." There is none of the coarseness of a sailor in his speech, though that is clearly what he is, for his voice is light, almost melodic in quality and while his build does not suggest unusual strength there is a certain nimbleness and grace to his movements. You realize this is a man well suited to working on board ship, high on the masts furling and unfurling sail. He smiles slightly, openly, "I am, as you have probably already determined, a sailor by trade and rigging is my home, though I have other skills and can sing a sea shanty passing fair, as well as play the flute. Well, I can try to play the flute, but it rarely goes well", he laughs, "After five years on board different ships I felt it time to try living on land again, to seek my fortune that perhaps one day I might buy a ship of my own." As he turns to one side to listen to someone else speak, you catch a glimpse inside the loose fitting sleeveless tunic he wears at some of the skin of his back, where you see it is criss-crossed with healed over scars, indicating his past life has not always been an easy one. Background One of many children born to a poor, lowborn family of common criminals in an inconsequential port town, Iranos necessarily learned the art of cutting purses and picking pockets from an early age, else he faced the wrath of his father for not putting bread on the table. He always had a fondness for singing to his younger siblings though and longed to learn to play an instrument but never had the coin for tuition. As he matured toward adulthood he found he could earn coin singing in taverns, but soon discovered a taste for alcohol and drank what he earned away in the very same establishment, so ended up stealing again to feed his growing need for spirits. One day he stole from the wrong noble, was caught and seemed certain to lose his right hand as punishment, but somehow picked the lock of his cell and fled to the docks, where he took service as a deckhand on a ship that was leaving port. He never returned to his home, but found a new calling on board ship, until he had to move to another where he stayed for more than two years as the first was returning to his home town. That ship, the Wavebreaker, truly did become a home and the crew a family, and with them he learned skills in navigation and gained admittance to the navigators' guild. In time though the ship needed to spend several months in dry dock being refitted and he had to move to another . The third ship was taken by pirates, the officers put to the sword and the remaining crew that survived the hand to hand fighting when the ship was taken were given the choice, join the pirates or die. He chose to live and was with them over a year until able to make his escape. He was a competent sailor but rum was always available on board the priate ship. His taste for it and dependence on it to block the nightmares of the life he was forced to lead grew, but after falling into the sea, drunk, while on watch and being grievously flogged after being rescued, so viciously that it left permenant scars, he will no longer touch a drop, knowing if he starts he cannot stop. The nadir of the time on the pirate ship was also ultimately the cause of his escape. The pirate captain had them attack a merchant vessel, that it turned out was also carrying a Landorian human family, the wealthy merchant that owned the ship, his wife and their adult daughter, who was of an age with Iranos. The crew was killed to a man, and the merchant and his wife, but the daughter was spared, though with what happened to her she might have preferred death. She was kept tied naked to the main mast for the pleasure of the pirates. When the bulk of the crew, purses heavy with plundered gold, headed in to the next port for a night of drinking with more compliant harlots than the broken woman tied to the mast, Iranos took his opportunity. He packed a few meagre possessions and coin, and a looted from the stores a fine dress taken from the merchant ship, then put everything into a waterproof pack which he stowed and headed to the deck. He pressed himself against the woman, as if about to have her, though like the few other men that yet lived from the ship the pirates had overrun, he never had before. "Do not speak. If I can free you, can you swim?" he whispered urgently. Whith his mouth close to her hear, he could not see her face, but saw she nodded slightly. While helpless she was not blind to which of the pirates had used her body and the few others had turned in horror from what had happened, so understood there were divisions within the crew. "To your duty sailor!" barked the mate from his position, observing him. Iranos had known he would be seen there, promptly called out "Aye sir!" and moved sharply away. There was only a skeleton crew on board with so many in port, the third mate, boatswain and him. He waited for full darkness of night and knowing which boards creaked and which were silent, he made his way silently in darkness to where the boatswain was posted. The man was a brutal thug and killer, and Iranos silently slit his throat before the man even knew he was there. It was the first life he had taken, and though he had seen much death in the previous year he immediately retched over the side. Breathing heavily, he wiped his mouth, composed himself until his breathing steadied and knowing his bloody work was only half done made his way between the shadows cast by the lanterns on deck and was able to surprise the mate and wound him seriously, but not seriously enough to deliver a fatal blow at the first strike. The mate was not an unthinking brute like the boatswain, his evil was calculating and he was a competent fighter that landed two grave blows with his scimitar on Iranos, but fatally weakend by the initial attack the pirate eventually fell. Unsteady on his feet with loss of blood from injuries inflicted by the mate, he staggered back to the woman and cut her free, then collapsed, close to falling unconscious. "Under those stairs," he gasped out, nodding toward the steps down to the galley, "is a oilskin pack containing a dress, my coin and what little else I have. The captain of the Wavebreaker two ships over is a good man, tell him Iranos sent you." and with that he passed out, blood still leaking from the deep wound in his forearm. She would not let his sleep though, and shook him awake. "You don't die today Iranos," she said, and suddenly there was steel in the eyes of the woman who had seemed broken by the pirates, "not if I have any say in the matter." She pressed her hand against his wound, looked to the sky and muttered a few words. He felt warmth and strength flood into him. "What?" he asked in confusion, never having encountered magic before. "My goddess answered my prayer, though it is unlikely she will do so again today, so do try not to die a second time," she said tightly, "Now, give me your tunic, for I have no wish to be naked a moment longer." Able to stand once more, he removed the garment to stand only in his trous. She swiftly donned it and after retrieving the pack they leapt into the water. They made it to the Wavebreaker and fortunately its Captain and some of the crew recognised Iranos and they were accepted on board in return for Iranos working their passage. The woman, whose name was Ineni Ta-noor, revealed herself to be a paladin following Shir, who to her people manifested as a flame haired matriarch, and over the course of the voyage she introduced him to her teachings, which he found aligned closely with his own personal philosophy. A tentative friendship and degree of understanding of each other grew between them, for though he had saved her from captivity and likely death, she guided him to acceptance of himself, for the events he had been forced to be part of over the last year and the robbery in his past. She left the ship when they reached a Landorian port with a chapter of her order, but Iranos remained on board and with the Wavebreaker until this day. Character Traits Personality * My friends know they can rely on me, no matter what. Ideals * Respect. The thing that keeps a ship together is mutual respect between captain and crew. Bonds * Ruthless pirates killed my captain and many of my crewmates, then forced me to serve with them until I made my escape. Once I belived I simply wanted vengance, now I seek justice. Flaws * Once I start drinking, I cannot stop. The Tale As the group prepares to rest for the night in the hut they have found themselves, Iranos addresses them all. "You all know that I do not use the name of my family. Given the situation we find ourselves in, it is better you know why," he begins. "My parents and extended family were all criminals and from an early age their children were expected to be the same. First begging, or keeping watch while they robbed shops and houses, then cutting purses or picking pockets, and later thieving from shops and housebreaking ourselves. It was not the life I would choose, but it was the life i was compelled to lead until I fled my home port and my family on a ship and became a sailor. A consequence of my childhood is a I have a certain facility at some things, I am more likely than most to be able to determine the signs of anything unusual, such as if there is a hidden store for valuables. An example might be a floorboard slightly out of place or a brick sitting unevenly in a wall. Also to understand how to open such a door if the mechanism is concealled, or to pick its lock, and to move through an occupied dwelling or other area without being detected. I'm not proud of these things, but this island does not seem a safe or welcoming place so these skills may prove useful to us in surviving while we attempt to find a way to leave. Even as a child you learn quickly that the wealthy and powerful not only lock away their valuables to protect them, but also set traps to kill or capture a thief that acts without caution. Again, I have some ability in finding and avoiding these, or other hidden things that might seek to do us harm. I have already seen in the few short hours since we made landfall you each have diverse, even wondrous skills of your own, so I make you all aware of my own, that we might better ensure our survival. Therefore, I would suggest that if we are moving through an unfamiliar area, I be permitted to move at the front, to give the best chance that we do not fall victim to any traps set for the unwary, or miss anything else that is concealed. One final thought. I have been a sailor over five years. On board ship one learns the ship is not its masts and rigging, keel and anchor, it is its captain and its crew, and it sails best with them working as a cohesive whole, using each crew members particular skills when the situation warrants it and none acting unilaterally other than in situations of dire need, lest they precipitate greater problems than are already faced. This is a principle I feel we should remember here, for it seems a perilous place." He stops, and you realise from his use of language and melodic voice he is perhaps more intelligent than your average sailor, and also that his story of his past included no mention of the scars you have observed on his back. Category:Player Character